Charge cleaning and conditioning device for internal-combustion engines



,1 E. s. BURSLEY 'E'r AL 1,703,867

I CHARGE CLEANING AND CONDITIOIING DEVICE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed March'lG. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l I 1.9 40 fl/jggjrl 5 Z ooo m? Y Z1 Z3 1 2E? l 7 I if l I if L if T L z I l 1 1 3.7 .75 if x J 2.9 I Z7 31 e 0 jz;m%r6 jamndifizrazg JZhra malt 5, 1929- E. s. BURSLEY ET AL 1,703,867

CHARGE CLEANING AND CONDITIOIIIG DEVICE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed March 16. 1925 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Mar. 5, 192 9.

' UNITED STATES 1,703,867 PATENT OFFICE.

EDMUND S. 'BURSLEY, F DEXTER, AND ALLAN I. TRASK, OF BANGOR, MAINE, AS- SIGNORS, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO TRASK INDUSTRIES, INCORPO- RATED, OF BANGOR, MAINE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE. 1

cannon CLEANING AND CONDITIONING DEVICE roa INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Application filed March 16, 1925. Serial No. 15,

This invention relatesto means for cleanmg and rectifying combustible mixtures of liquidfuel and air, including those provided for internal combustion engines and other situations Where liquid fuel is burned to gen erate power or heat. Its object is to remove solid and unvaporized liquid matter from a stream composed of such a mixture of fuel and air. 'furtherobject' is to vaporize by heat such of the matter thus removed as may be vaporized under the conditions in which the device is used, and to add the vapor so produced to the air stream; retaining for separate discharge the unvaporizable residue of the fuel as well as other matter which may have entered the air stream otherwise than in or with the fuel. A further or additional object is to add moisture in predetermined'quantities to the cleaned or rectified mixture.

The invention comprises a" cleaning, or cleaning and rectifying unit adapted to be interposed in the conduit through which a stream of air carrying liquid fuel in a state of more or less minute subdivision, as well as the vapor of such fuel, is conducted to the place'of combustion; such unit when applied.

for use in'connection with an internal combustion engine being situated between the carbureter and the intake port or ports of the engine. Said unit includes means capable of removing solid and liquid particles from the stream and arranged to discharge such particles from the conduit; said means being preferably a rotor element situated. in the path of the streamand equipped with blades to be impelled by the stream, and with gather-ing channels to entrap and remove non-.

vaporous matter. The unit is also equipped with a chamber for receiving the discharged matter and with heating means for applying heat to such chamber and its contents; such;

heating means being conveniently provided by a conduit arranged to lead more or less of the exhaust gases from the engine into external contact with such chamber, when the device is applied to use with an internal combustion engine. The invention further comprises as useful accessories means for supplying water to be vaporized by the unit and added, as vapor, to the fuel mixture, and means for automatically discharging from time to time the unvaporizable residue of the matter removed from the stream of mingled air and fuel. The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the distinctive features of novelty will be pointed out in the appended claims,

Referring to the drawings Fig.1 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of. a device embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevation thereof looking from the left in Fig. 1. i

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on a relatively en larged scale showing the rotor element and its housing. I I

Fig. 4 is a plan view of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is an elevation showing the device applied-t0 the intake connection of an internal combustion en ine. p

10 indicates an engine block which may be that of an ordinary four-cycleinternal combustion engine having a usual intake manifold 11, exhaust manifold 12, and carbureter 13. The device of our invention comprises a unit 14 which as shown, is interposed between the carbureter 13 and the intake manifold 11 and is also interposed in a connection .nection 16 leading from the carbureter and continuing as a passage 17 leading centrally through the device. This passage is constituted by an inner wall 18 shown as formed integral with the body of the unit, and by a continuation 17 of such passage shown as formed in a separate cover member 19 detachably fitted to the body of the unit in a rebated seat as indicated at 20. A space as' indicated at 21 is left between the end of the wall 18 and the passage wall portion 17 for a purpose now to be described.

Within the passage 17 is fitted a housing shell 22 which is slotted at the locality of register with the passage 21 throughout the major portion of its circumference. leav ng only relatively narrow ribs 23 to hold-the two portions together. This housing is equipped at its ends with bearings for pivot studs borne by the hub or spindle 24 of a rotor element 25. This. rotor clemcntronsists in a.

series ofspaced apart spiral blades 26,'illustratively shown as six in number adapted to be actuated by the flow of theair and fuel 'mixture through .the device to operate the rotor at a high rate of speed. The ends of these blades toward which the stream is passing, i. e.,v adjacent the discharge end of the device, are extended backward, with respect to the direction in'which they travel,

. and then downward, or oppositely to the direction of stream flow, as indicated at 26 and -so asto form bucketsor gathering channels proportional to the velocity of the stream flowing through the conduit. The buckets or channels may bemade more or less deep and wide that is, they may be caused to project to a greater or less extentac'ross the passage between the blades from which they respectively spring and thenext following blade.

vWe prefer to give the blades such aninclination and to make the buckets Ker channels of such width, that the outer lip of each channel will more or less overlap the lower end, (the end which is first encountered by the air stream)", of the next blade.' As the stream of mingled air and fuel flows through the spaces between the blades of the rotor, it not only turns the'rotor, but is also somewhat deflected by the inclinedblades, and such deflection causes those particles of matter which are heavier than air to pass over next to the impact surfaces of the blades and to enter the buckets. Thus the heavier portions of the stream are intercepted by the buckets. By

suitably proportioning these features of the,

' rotor, substantially 'allofthe solid andliquid particles (which are comprehensively includ- 1 ed within the term unvaporized matter), or

such. proportion of this matter as'may be desirable-to be removed, may be separated from the stream; and the rotation of the rotor at high speed causes this unvaporiz ed matter to be thrown putward through the opening 21 and thus finally segregated and cleared from the stream which is in this way purified and rectified. The dust and other solid, as well as unvaporized liquid matterthus thrown out through the opening 21 is collected in an annular collecting chamber 27 formedbetween the inner wall 18 and an outer wall 28 of the unit surrounding the wall 18. This constitutes a collecting chamber for the matter thus thrown 0ut. The hot exhaust gases from the eng ne, or a portion of such gases, are led around thischamber 27 by the connection 15 from the exhaust manifold and an encircling passage 29 formed by an outer-concentric wall 30 spaced apart from the-wall28 and joined to the bottom wall of the unit. Thus the matter received in the chamber 27, and particularly'that lodging on the wall 28, is heated and such constituents of thism'atter as may be vaporized by heat so applied are there transformed into vapor.

31 indicatesa discharge passage from this collecting chamber controlled by a slide valve v32. This valve is acted on by a spring 33 to open the same and it is normally held closed during the operation of the engine by suitable means shown as an electro-magnet or solenoid34 which may be energized by the electrical system ofthe engine, this magnet acting on a head 32 of the stem of the valve 32. Thus the discharge passage is kept closed during the operation of the engine but is opened to permit discharge of the contents of the chamber 21 each timethe engine stops.

Meansis provided or admitting pre-determined, and relatively minute quantities of water into the chamber 27. during the operation of the engine. For this purpose a connection 35 leads from a source of water supply, which may be the water jacket of the engine, into the chamber 27 through a passage '36 which is controlled by a cone valve 37.

This valve is pressed to its seat to close the passage by ,a spring 38. It-is normally held open during the operation of the engine by suitable means shown as an electro-magnet or solenoid 39, also permissibly energized by the electrical system of the engine, arranged to act upon a head 37 borne by the stem of this valve. Thus while the engine is runnin the valve 37 is held open to permit the intake. of

. relatively small quantities of water continuously while the valve 32 is held closed. lVhen the engine stops the water valve 37 is closed and the discharge valve 32 is opened as shown in Fig. 20f the drawings. The extent of opening permitted by thevalve 37 is only suliicient to permit the introduction of s'uflicient water to properly humidify and condition the mixture so as to make the same mos effective.

The chamber 27 which is heated as described by the exhaust gases passing therearound through passage 29, serves first as a container and distilling chamber for the unvaporized particles of fuel and foreign matter collected and segregated from the mixture by the rotor, wherein the "heat from the exhaust serves to vaporize and re-deliver to the combustible mixture any portion thereof which may be capable of vaporization by this means, including such previously unvaporized gasoline or other liquid fuel as may have been contained in the mixture and thrown out by the rotor.

as it passes to the manifol The second function of the chamber 27 is to vaporize and pro-heat the water whichis to be added to the mixture to properly condition the same. The upper part of the cover 19 is provided with a series. of apertures 40 adaptedto permit the .delive into the stream of such water vapor and of the vaporized fuel ingredients which are generated in the chamber 27. The heating chamber 27 is so arranged, preferably as shown herein, that the only force tending to transfer vapor or other matter from this'chamberinto the combustible mixture is the pressure generated by vaporization of the volatile matter thrown into the chamber. That is, the chamber is located mainly below the discharge port or ports 21, and preferably also there is an outstanding flange from the rotor housing" above such ports, forming a. bafile over the inner. part of the annular chamber. This arrangement of the chamber, ports and baflle, limits to the minimum any tendency which might exist of matter discharged into the chamber to be entrained or carried by its momentum into the air stream in the passage 17 2 There is a progressive temperaturegradient in the chamber 27 from the inner wall thereof, the temperature of which is substantially the same as that of the incoming charge, to the outer wall, the temperature of which is high and approxi mates that of the exhaust gases. The matter thrown into the chamber by the rotor passes from the region of lower temperature toward the region of higher temperature therein, be

coming heated and partially vaporized in so passing. The smallest particles of most volatile constitution may be wholly vaporized withoutreaching the outer wall, but the least volatile and largest particles lodge on the outer wall of the chamber, forming a film which runs down the wall and is further heated. The particles of solid and unvaporizable liquid matter accumulate in the bottom of the chamber, from which the accumulation is drawn off from time to time. Chamber 27 also insulates in large measure the air stream in the interior passage from the heat of the exhaust gases in the passage or outer chamber 29; obtaining the desired effect of vaporizing 'the fuel (and doing it more completely and better than is done by the means devised for.

that purpose heretofore), without at the same time expanding and rarefying the air or the normal content of atmospheric humidity in the air. i I

In addition to the advantages heretofore explained, the device of the present invention is of advantage in that through the introduction of heat, combined with the rapid motion I and. agitation produced by the rotor as it is actedon by, and acts on, the fuel and air stream, the fuel mixture is made more uniform and evenly tempered as well as refined,

thus obtaining, in the engine feed with the mixture additional power in large degree froma given fuel consumption, and, by reawhich would be likely to create deposits within the combustion chamber of the engine, the engine requires a minimum of attention and is adapted for long service without requiring to have the carbon cleaned out, such socalled carbon being actually not so much carbon as incombustible residuum from the gasoline and including a large proportion of road dust mixed with gummy binder There is also less wear on the cylinder walls and piston packing rings, owing to the removal of solid matter, which. otherwise would act as an abrasive; and a lessening of the liability of the piston rings to stick and fail properly to pack the cylinder, due to the elimination of sticky and gummy elements from the fuel. The fuel which reaches the cylinder is completely or substantially vaporized and therefore in condition to burnquickly with the proliquid gasoline into the engine cylinders and destroying the film of lubricating oil therein and then diluting the lubricating oil in the engine crank case; an evil which is of continual occurrence in the runnin of automobile engines, as heretofore. Et the same time the air content of the combustible charge drawn into the cylinders is relatively cool and dense, and contains a. greater actual quantity of oxygen and humidity than equal volumes of combustible mixtures which have been preheated by the means and devices heretofore used with motor cars for that purose. p As a result of this invention, therefore, a substantial increase of power and engine efficiency is obtained, with saving in fuel consumption; the lubrication of the engine pistons is improved; and dilution of the lubricating oil by gasoline, scoring and abrasion of the cylinder walls and piston packing rings, and deposition of carbon in yond said separator in the direction of flow V ing the discharge from the engine of carbon thereo 7 scope of the invention.

vice comprising a fuel vpassage having a monoxide with its dangerous and vobnoxious 7 We are aware that the invention may be embodied in otherspecific forms without departin from the spirit or essential attributes and we therefore-desire the present embodiment to be considered in'all respects as illustrative and not restr1ctive,reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the Having described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: y

.' 1. A charge cleaning and rectifying def "lateral outlet,- means arranged -in said passage for discharging through said outlet un-. -'vaporiz1ng matter carried by the stream,and

means for vaporizing and returning to the stream, at a point in the travel of the stream beyond said discharging means, volatilepor tionsof the. matter so discharged;

2. The combination with a conduit and means for'causing flow through said conduit of-an air stream with an admixture of subdivided volatile liquidfuel, of'a separator in said conduit having means for mechanically removingand throwing outwardly unvaporized particles carried with the stream, means for collectmg and heatln the unvaorized matter so removed, an provisions orconducting into said stream at a point beyond said separator the vapor generated by heating said matter.

3. The combination of means'for produc;

- ing a mixture of gas and subdivided-volatile liquid, a conduit for confining a flowing stream of such mixture delivered. by said means, a centrifugal separator for removing fromthe stream matter of higher specific v gravity than the gas and vapor content of .the stream, a collection cham the matter. removed from the stream by said er into which separator is received, and a passage leading from saidchamberto the conduit at a'point beyond said separator in the direction of.

flow of the stream. I I 4. The combination of means for produc I ing .a mixture of gas andsubdivided volatile liquid, a conduit in continuation with" said means for eonfimng a flow ng stream .of such mixture, a centrifugal separator for removing from'the stream matter of higher specific gravity than the'gas and vapor content of the stream, axcollection chamber into which the matter removed from the stream by 'said separator isreceived, a passage leading from said chamber to ,the' conduit at a pointbe of the stream, and means for applying heat to said chamber. 5.- A cleaning and rectifying device of the character described comprising a structure having walls forming an inner-passage having lateral ports, an intermediate annular chamber surrounding said inner passage into which said'ports open, and located mainly below said ports, and an outer chamber surrounding said intermediate chamber having an inlet and an outlet for a heating medium, closing means for said chambers separably applied to said structure having an outlet in continuation of said passage and having a.

assage leading from the intermediate chamer to said outlet, and a' rotor in said inner passage having impulse vanes and interception buckets,- the outer ends of said buckets and the saidports being substantially in the same plane transverse to the axis of the rotor.. Q

. 6. The combination with an internal combustion engine, the carbureter of such engine and an 1ntake conduit leading from the carbureter to the engine, of a charge cleaning device interposed-in said intake and having I means for "removing unvaporized liquid, as

well as solid particles from the stream of combustible mixture flowing, from the carbureter, a collection chamber arranged to receive matter so removed from the. stream, having a connection with the intake conduit 'at a point nearer to the engine than said removing means, and means for conducting ex-.

sageway havingvanes impellable by a stream flowing through said passageway'and having collection buckets with ischar'ge outlets rotating in the planeof said zone of com munication; said intermediate chamber be-' ing closed at its bottom and extending below said zone of communication and both above and below said outer chamber; there being a flow passagejbetwee'n the upper part of said intermediate chamber and the central passageway above the before named 'zone of communication.-

8. A charge cleaning and rectifying device comprising a body structure having substantially concentric cylindrical walls defining a central passage, an intermediate chamber and an outer chamber, the latter-having inlet outlet openings for flow of a'heating agent, said outer chamber being closed at top closed at the bottom and extending below the bottom of the outer chamber, and both the v and bottom, the intermediate chamber being intermediate chamber and central passa e being open at the top, a cover fitted to sald body structure and containing an extension of the central passage and intermediate I chamber, a housing removably seated in said central passage and having longitudinally separated bearings, and a rotor having pivots fitted to rotate in said bearings and havin vanes arranged to be impinged upon and 1. driven by stream flow through said passage;

the rotor having collection buckets with eripheral discharge outlets and the housin having a port in the zone of rotation of sai outlets opening into the intermediate chamber between the body structure and cover.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification.

EDMUND S. BURSLEY. ALLAN P. TRASK. 

